$20M Budget Includes Slight Tax Increase For Long Valley Residents

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Property owners will have to pay a few dollars more in municipal taxes after the Township Committee approved a $20 million budget for 2023 at its meeting on Monday, April 17.

The township committee first presented preliminary figures for the annual municipal budget on March 17, noting that several factors were contributing to the increase.

The budget, totaling $20,689,802.63, is $113,541, or.5 percent less than the previous year's budget of $20,803,343.

Officials stated that the final budget includes a 2 percent increase in the tax levy, which translates to an increase of about $68 for a home assessed at the town average of $439,910 in value.

A $439,910 assessed home's 2023 municipal taxes would come to $2,154 in total, an increase of 3.29 percent from the previous year.

Among the most intense cost increases that were taken into account in this budget was an increase of $184,800 in health benefits.

The state surprised all New Jersey municipalities, including Washington Township, earlier this fall with a 20 percent increase in healthcare insurance rates, prompting local governments to pass resolutions opposing the increase in an effort to fight back.

Under the new healthcare proposals, hundreds of thousands of New Jersey public employees, early retirees, and school employees could face rate increases of up to 20 percent for health benefits.

Another factor that had to be managed in the budget was an overall increase of $233,241 in pension costs. The increased spending is required by state law to cover the pension benefits earned by employees who are members of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the Police and Firemen's Retirement System.

Back in March, the Washington Township School District, the local K-8 district, presented its proposed school budget for 2023-24, which included a tax increase for some town residents.

The proposed budget of $46,390,895 for the 2023-24 school year is a .6 percent decrease from the budget for 2022-23, which was roughly $46,664,904.

The average homeowner in Washington Township would face a $137 tax increase per year, officials said. The school board attributed the tax increase to a variety of factors, including inflation and a reduction in state aid.

On Tuesday, April 25, the school board will hold a public budget hearing at which the final budget will be adopted.